Steam heated head for garment presses



Nov. 4, 1952 E. J. fwww-ELF .ETAL 2,616,194

STEAM HEATED HEAD .Fox GAEMENT PREssEs Filed .JuneA 9. 194s IN V EN TOR.J. rERwELP BY A. WAGGE'TT ZW d AT TMA/E71 Patented Nov. 4, 1952 STEAMHEATED HEAD FOR GARMENT PRESSES Edward J. Terwelp, Davenport, Iowa, andThomas A. Waggett, Moline, Ill., assignors to American Machine andMetals, Inc., New York, N. Y., a

corporation of Delaware Application June 9, 1949, Serial No. 97,996

l 2 Claims. l

The invention relates to steam heated elements for garment presses. Moreespecially, the invention is designed for that type of press in whichthere is an essentially stationary buck and a movable pressing headswinging in a vertical plane. g K

In such presses, the head must be elevated each time a portion of thegarment is pressed. Depending upon the nature of the work, the head mayhave to be elevated several times a minute. The head must be elevatedenough to permit ready access to the entire surface of the lowerpressing element for draping the garment without danger of burning thehands or the head of the operator.

Experience has shown that the speed of pressing is dependent on the rateat which heat can be transferred from the head to the wet garment. Toavoid injury to the fabric, the maximum temperature permissible at'thepressing face is about 340 degrees F., r even less with rayons.Accordingly, steam at 100 pounds per square inch or less is used to heatthe head. Since it is not permissible to make Athe head hotter, the onlyway to get more heat from the steam inside of the head onto the garmentis to make the face of the'head thinner.

Another* difficulty commonly experienced in pressing heads is that asthe steam gives up its heat, some of it is apt to condense and thiscondensed steam tends to form a blanket at the lower face of the head,that is, on the inner face of the surface which does the pressing. Bymaking this face a stainless steel plate with a smooth inside surface aswell as a smooth outside surface, the smoothness on the insidefacilitates draining o'f moisture away toward the exhaust. Thissmooth'surface also gives a lbetter wetting surface and thus facilitatesthe transmission of heat. These two advantages together with a smallerthickness of the face plate than in a cast iron head,4 all facilitatethe rapid transfer of heat to the fabric being pressed.

If the head is a cored casting with a polished pressing face, a greatdeal of energsr is required to elevate this heavy head and to bring itback down into pressing position without undue loss of time. Since thepressing head must not slam down on the Work, the inertia of the headmoving downward rapidly must be absorbed by dashpots or snubbers. It isobvious that the press is only productive during the time that the headis down and in touch with the garment placed on the lower buck. It isnot productive during the time it is being elevated or being broughtdown.

For several decades it has been realized that if a welded steel headcould be substituted for the cored cast iron head,l much weight would besaved and the performance of the press greatly enhanced. Patents1,684,819 and 1,876,626 were granted Ernest Davis on applications filedin 1926 and 1928 respectively.

Such heads, made of carbon steel plates, have not found wide acceptance.Welding the parts warps the profile of the head due to distortion whenit is heated. The surface of a carbon steel plate does not take a highpolish comparable to cast iron. Expansion causes leakage of steam. Thehead still had to be plated to prevent corrosion.

Attempts to securelightness by using a cast aluminum head were onlypartially successful because the pressing surface is not hard enough toprevent marring the surface by buttons on the garments which are beingpressed, and under some conditions the pressing surface deteriorates andgets rough.

The invention resides in the discovery that a light, non-rusting, andgenerally desirable press head may be made by casting the top and sidesof the head in steel. Since the spaces that were formerly cored can nowbe molded without cores, the walls of the casting can be made lighterand steel may be used as the material rather than cast iron. Theinvention further teaches that with the back and sides thus cast insteel, it is possible to select a type of stainless steel plate, whichcombines the unique qualities of not rusting, lightness, substantiallythe same rate of temperature expansion as the cast steel body, and whichcan be welded to the bottom edge of the rim of the cast steel body.Since this stainless steel plate has a higher conductivity than asimilar thickness of cast iron and has a smoother interior surface, therate of heat transmission and accordingly the speed of pressing isgreatly improved. Any condensation reaches the exhaust pipe more rapidlywith the smooth inner surface of the pressing face than with the roughsurface of a cast face.

The object of the invention is to provide a light-weight welded pressingelement having a cast steel back and sides and a stainless steel faceplate having substantially the same coefficient of expansion weldedthereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a light-weight weldedpressing element having a steel casting which forms the back and thesides of a pressing element and which also has raised portions withinthe rim and a stainless steel face will match the lower head (notshown).

plate having substantially the same coeflicient of expansion which maybe welded to the rim of the casting and also to the intermediate raisedportions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a high-speed pressinghead in which the advan-` tages of a stainless steel face plate,relatively thin, with high conductivity, is secured by welding it to acast steel housing.

Still another object of the invention is to secure freedom frominterference with Vheat transmission by condensation or imbedded sandparticles by a construction which makes the inner surface of the face ofthe head smooth and sloping uni-f formly toward the outlet.

The invention is applicable alike to the upper or -to the lower pressingelement and is not limited to the particular height of pressing elementsherein shown by way of illustration.

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of one type of pressing head built inaccordance with the invention.Y

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same pressing element with thecover plateremoved.

Fig. 3 is a vertical elevation of the pressing element, partly insection, taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. .4. is a bottom View of the steel casting before it is welded tothe face plate.

The cast steel body generally indicated at I comprises the generally.flat back plate 2 and a downwardly extending rim 3. At a number ofpoints within the area circumscribed by the rim 3 portions of the back 2are depressed to form cones 4. Each of these cones extends down to theyback face of the face plate 5. Elach cone has a central opening Eeither cored or drilled. As shown on the bottom view in Fig. 4,partitions 1.,- 8, 9 extend part-way across the distance between the tworims leaving spaces HJ which allow steam to pass around the ends ofthese partitions. As shown, it may be convenient to have thesepartitions pass through the axis of the raised conical portion 4, butthis is not essential.

At each end, toward the rear, a boss II is cast on the rim and this isdrilled for connection 'to steam pipes. Thus steam may enter through oneof the'V pipes II, ow around the partition 1, 8 and 9 to the other bosswhich permits the steam to passout. In this manner, a continuousflow ofsteam over the inner surface of the face plate is assured withV maximumheating benefits during pressing. The face plate may be formed in apress or otherwise to the desired contour that This face plate is madeof stainless steel of a type which has substantially the same rate ofexpansion as thesteel casting. Its size is such that a flange I2'remains outside of the rim This .steel face plate is welded to the rimby a weld I3. To prevent distortion under pressure, the back ofA theface plate is attached to the cones 4 by plug welds I4 in the mannershown in Patent 1,782,234.

The top of the casting may have a. number of bosses I5 which are drilledand tapped at I8 for the bolts by which the head is suspended from themovable pressing arm.

To close the back and reduce the radiation of heat. the back 'may beclosed Yby a cover plate I1 vattached to a' flange I 8 onthe top `of thesteel casting I. This plate has holes through which the bosses I5project.

If desired, the space between the back 2 and the cover plate I1 may belled with an insulating compound such as asbestos to further reduce theloss of heat.

We claim:

1. An improved hollow buck having a thin stainless steel face and asteel frame supporting the steel face comprising, a steel frameconsisting vof a relatively thick rigid substantially flat plate havinga rim extending around its edges on one face and having hollow columnsrising from the same face, a relati-vely thin stainless steel concaveplate designed to transmit heat to the work welded to the top of saidrim and welded at intermediate points to said columns to form a spacefor containing steam under pressure, said frame and said plate havingsubstantially the same coefcients of thermal expansion, and steamconnections to the space between said plate and said cast steel frame.

2. An improved hollow buckk having a. thin stainless steel face and asteel frame supporting the steel face comprising, a steel frameconsisting of a substantially rigid at plate having a rim extendingaround its edges on one face and having hollow columns rising from thesame face and a ridge extending around the edges of its other face, arelatively thin stainless steel concave plate designed to transmit heatto the work welded to the top of said rim and welded at intermediatepoints to said columnsV to form a spacefor containing steam underpressure, said frame and said plate having substantially the samecoecents of thermal expansion, and steam connections to the spacebetweensaid plate and said,

steel frame, and a coverplate supported on said ridge tominimizecondensation within saidlspacev EDWARD J, 'I'ERWELP. 'l'.I-IOMAS,v A.WAGGETT;

REFERENCES' CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES" PATENTS

